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The impacts of the Anthropocene on climate and biodiversity pose societal and ecological problems that may only be solved by ecosystem restoration. Local to regional actions are required, which need to consider the prevailing present and future conditions of a certain landscape extent. Modeling approaches can be of help to support management efforts and to provide advice to policy making. We present stage one of the LaForeT-PLUC-BE model (Landscape Forestry in the Tropics–PCRaster Land Use Change–Biogeographic & Economic model; in short: LPB) and its thematic expansion module RAP (Restoration Areas Potentials). LPB-RAP is a high-resolution pixel-based scenario tool that relies on a range of explicit land use types (LUTs) to describe various forest types and the environment. It simulates and analyzes future landscape configurations under consideration of climate, population and land use change long-term. Simulated Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC) builds on dynamic, probabilistic modeling incorporating climatic and anthropogenic determinants as well as restriction parameters to depict a sub-national regional smallholder-dominated forest landscape. The model delivers results for contrasting scenario settings by simulating without and with potential Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) measures. FLR potentials are depicted by up to five RAP-LUTs. The model builds on user-defined scenario inputs, such as the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP). Model application is here exemplified for the SSP2-RCP4.5 scenario in the time frame 2018–2100 on the hectare scale in annual resolution using Esmeraldas province, Ecuador, as a case study area. The LPB-RAP model is a novel, heuristic Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) tool for smallholder-dominated forest landscapes, supporting near-time top-down planning measures with long-term bottom-up modeling. Its application should be followed up by FLR on-site investigations and s

Numerous medical studies have documented vegetarian diets as having various health benefits. Studies have also compared vegetarians with other dietary groups from a socio-psychological perspective. The objective of this review is to investigate the differences between vegetarians and omnivores in terms of their personality profiles, values, and empathy skills. A search was conducted across three electronic databases. Non-randomized, observational, cross-sectional, and cohort studies were eligible. Outcomes provided information about the differences between the above-mentioned dietary groups regarding their personality profiles, values, and empathy skills. A shortened version of the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias for the included studies. Of the 2,513 different studies found, 25 (total number of participants n = 23,589) were ultimately included. These studies indicate that vegetarians significantly differ from omnivores in their personalities, values, and ability to be empathetic. Omnivorism is associated with an increased orientation toward social dominance, greater right-wing authoritarianism, and, in line with this, a stronger tendency to be prejudiced. Vegetarianism is associated with greater openness and empathy. The values of vegetarians are based more on universalism, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction, whereas the values of omnivores are based more on the idea of power. To answer a narrowly defined and clear question, issues such as animal ethics, animal rights, and environmental protection are not considered in this review. The findings of this review, showing marked differences in personality correlating to the choice of diet and the increasing influence of plant-based diets on a global level, indicate that further studies about vegetarianism are warranted.

© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. The aim of this survey was to examine differences in personality profiles among 198 vegan (n = 64; 32.3%), vegetarian (n = 78; 39.4%) and omnivore (n = 55; 27.8%) medical professionals. Outcomes were motives for the nutritional approaches, WHO QoL-BREF, Big Five SOEP Inventory, Portraits Value Questionnaire, and Empathizing Scale. Regarding motives for particular diets, omnivores rated influence of guardians (p < 0.001), physical health (p = 0.017) and food taste (p = 0.001) as more and love of animals as less important (p < 0.001) than vegans and vegetarians. Vegans and vegetarians consumed less coffee (p = 0.007) and alcohol compared to omnivores (p = 0.017). The duration of adhering to a specific diet was significantly shorter in vegans. Data suggest that vegan medical professionals do not differ from vegetarians or omnivores regarding empathy, values or personality traits. Differences to a related internet sample were observed for a number of outcomes. Given the small sample size and potential selection bias through the specific subpopulation attending a plant-based nutrition conference, further studies are warranted to confirm these results. Particularly, potential reciprocities between empathy and individual nutritional choices deserve further attention.

Aims: HeiCuMed (Heidelberger Curriculum Medicinale) represents a reform curriculum which had the aim to resolve known problems of the traditional curriculum. The new clinical curriculum was implemented in October 2001. The comparative student evaluation of the undergraduate surgical training before and after the implementation of HeiCuMed shows a significantly higher rating of the surgical training in the reform curriculum. The present study aims at complementing the evaluation data collected during the surgical training by interviewing students from the traditional program and students from HeiCuMed in their final year of undergraduate training. Results: The interview data show that the introduction of new didactic strategies, the aligned contents in the different surgical fields, which were also matched with contents from internal medicine, as well as the case-based interactive teaching were responsible for the improved evaluation of students in HeiCuMed. The tutor continuity which is achieved by releasing the responsible tutor from clinical and operative duties for a period of 1-2 weeks, seems an important factor for the success. HeiCuMed students experienced the relation of the training to their future profession significantly stronger than students from the traditional curriculum and thus felt a stronger subjective learning success. Conclusion: In summary, the surgical training in HeiCuMed is highly effective from the point of view of the students, both in their realtime as well as in their retrospective judgement., Zielsetzung: HeiCuMed (Heidelberger Curriculum Medicinale) steht für ein Reformcurriculum, das sich zum Ziel gesetzt hat, Lösungsansätze für apparente Probleme des traditionellen Curriculums in die Curriculumsplanung zu integrieren. Im Oktober 2001 wurde das neue klinische Curriculum implementiert. Eine wesentliche Qualitätssicherungsmaßnahme im Block Operative Medizin war die Weiterführung der zuvor bereits eingeführten studentischen Evaluation basierend auf einem validierten Instrument. Die vergleichende Evaluation zeigte signifikant bessere Ergebnisse für die chirurgische Ausbildung im Reformcurriculum. Die vorliegende Studie vervollständigt die zeitnah erhobenen Evaluationsdaten durch Interviews, die mit den Studierenden im Praktischen Jahr geführt wurden, also nachdem sie das traditionelle bzw. das Reformcurriculum durchlaufen hatten. Ergebnisse: Die Interview-Daten zeigen deutlich, welche Neuerungen für die verbesserte Evaluation der Studierenden von HeiCuMed verantwortlich sind: die Einführung neuer didaktischer Lehrstrategien mit fallbasierter und interaktiver Vermittlung des Stoffes sowie die aufeinander abgestimmten Lehrinhalte in den verschiedenen chirurgischen Fachbereichen und der Abgleich mit der Lehre in der Inneren Medizin. Ein weiterer wichtiger Faktor ist die Dozentenkontinuität, die durch die Freistellung der Lehrenden von allen klinischen und operativen Verpflichtungen für die Zeit ihrer Lehrveranstaltungen (1-2 Wochen pro Semester) ermöglicht wird. HeiCuMed-Studierende beurteilten außerdem den Bezug zur späteren Berufspraxis als deutlich größer als die Studierenden des traditionellen Curriculums und empfanden ebenso einen stärkeren subjektiven Lernerfolg. Schlussfolgerung: Insgesamt ist die Lehre durch HeiCuMed im Bereich Chirurgie aus studentischer Sicht höchst effektiv - und dies sowohl zeitnah evaluiert als auch im Rückblick nach Absolvierung des klinischen Studienabschnitts.

It is notoriously difficult to study population interactions among highly mobile animals that cannot be meaningfully confined to experimental plots of limited size. For example, migratory water birds are believed to suffer from competition with resident fish populations for shared food resources. While observational evidence in support of this hypothesis is accumulating, replicated experiments addressing this issue at the proper spatial scale are lacking. Here, we report from a replicated whole-system experiment in which we stocked large (0.07 km(2)), shallow (<= 2.5 m deep), highly eutrophic ponds in the bird protection area "Ismaninger Speichersee mit Fischteichen'' with different densities of carp and assessed the responses of water birds and their food resources during summer over several years. In all years, the biomasses of benthic macroinvertebrates, macroalgae, and macrophytes as well as the densities of herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous water birds were reduced in carp ponds compared to fishshless ponds. The negative effects of carp on food resources and on the numbers of water birds feeding in carp ponds increased over the season (May-September) and were stronger at high than at low stocking densities of carp. Consequently, differences in resource densities between ponds with and without carp increased, and the ranking of ponds with respect to resource densities became more predictable over the season. These factors may have contributed to a seasonal improvement of the birds' abilities to track resource densities across ponds, as suggested by tight correlations of bird numbers on ponds with resource densities late, but not early, in the season., Haas, Karin Kohler, Ursula Diehl, Sebastian Kohler, Peter Dietrich, Sabine Holler, Stefan Jaensch, Andreas Niedermaier, Manfred Vilsmeier, Johanna

Two-dimensional light-scattering patterns from aggregates have undergone feature extraction followed by multivariate statistical analysis. The aggregates are comprised of primary particles of varying shape and size. Morphological descriptors (features) were extracted by a nonlinear filtering algorithm (spectrum enhancement) and then processed by principal component analysis and discriminant function analysis. The analysis was performed on two data sets, one in which the aggregates had a fixed primary particle size but varied in overall dimension and another in which the aggregate size was fixed but the primary particle size varied. Classification of the samples was performed adequately, providing some distinction among the limited classes that were analyzed.

Tire debris particles from low severity laboratory wear tests have been investigated by the TAOS optical scattering facility at Yale University. The incident wavelength is 532 nm. After the TAOS event some particle samples have been imaged by a scanning electron microscope and microanalyzed. The TAOS intensity patterns recorded within a solid angle in the backward sector have been processed by cluster analysis and compared with the patterns computed by a T-matrix code. Preliminary agreement has been found between TAOS data and the particle models (size, shape, refractive index). The purpose of the investigation is to obtain signatures of the material, based on its TAOS pattern. © 2001 Optical Society of America.

Two-dimensional angular optical scattering (TAOS) is a non destructive means of investigating small particles. Three types of materials are studied: a) polycrystalline tryptophan aggregates, which serve as reference, b) a mixture of tire debris and talc crystals coming from laboratory wear tests, c) dust from a residential, urban area collected by an electrostatic precipitator. Particles are produced from water suspension by an ink-jet aerosol generator and then illuminated by a laser beam. The scattered intensity is recorded within a solid angular sector in the backward domain. The goals of this investigation are 1) to obtain signatures of materials, based on scattering patterns and 2) to justify the experimental results by numerically solving the forward scattering problem.